Not listed as a writer, his name now sits under the page's "Other Experts" title alongside big wig Gabe Newell.

In addition to being co-writer on Portal 2, Pinkerton worked on Left 4 Dead and its sequel, and also produced a good deal of ancillary content including the comics and videos for Team Fortress 2.

The wordsmith had been with Valve since 2008 before leaving in 2017 for undisclosed reasons.

Pinkerton's departure followed after Valve had already lost a number of its creatives. Over an 18 month period starting in January 2016, the company bid farewell to Half-Life 1 & 2 writer Marc Laidlaw, Left 4 Dead scribe Erik Wolpaw left in February 2017, followed by Chet Faliszek in May.

This string of departures could likely be put down to the lack of games in development at Valve, so hopefully Pinkerton's return marks a change in the company's direction.